by Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY Sports

by Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY Sports

MIAMI - Chris Bosh talked in a tone just above a whisper about what has unfolded in the Eastern Conference finals - the worst playoff series of his career.

"There's not much I can say," the Miami Heat big man said. "Just really disappointed in myself. ... It's not really going my way in this series."

But Bosh isn't the only member of the Heat who's struggling. Dwyane Wade hasn't exactly been at the top of his game as Miami heads into Game 7 against the Indiana Pacers on Monday night (8:30 ET, TNT).

Bosh has not scored more than seven points in a game since Game 3 and is 5-for-21 shooting in Miami's past three games - two of them losses. Wade is shooting 44.2% from the field in the conference finals and hasn't reached 20 points since the first round against the Milwaukee Bucks.

"We can state the obvious: They're both struggling," Heat forward LeBron James said. "Chris is struggling with his shot, and hurting his ankle didn't help him. He will find it. It's my job as a leader to keep him motivated, to let him know how important he is to our movement (and) to our chances of returning to the Finals."

Indiana's Big Three of Roy Hibbert, Paul George and David West simply has outplayed Miami's Big Three. Pressure is on both teams, but more is on Miami. If the Heat lose, their season is a huge disappointment. If the Pacers lose, it was a good run and they can't wait for next season.

Two-thirds of the Big Three have disappeared as Indiana's size and strength have neutralized Miami's pace and floor spacing, and the upstart Pacers are on the verge of pulling off an upset thought impossible when Miami rolled to an NBA-record 27 consecutive victories.

"Normally with your max players who are All-Stars, they're able to play through any matchup," TNT analyst and former NBA player and executive Steve Kerr said. "It's been bizarre to watch both lose their confidence and lose their ability to impact the game."

EMBRACING ADVERSITY: LeBron knows task ahead

Miami's sometimes ineffective offense puts James in the same position he was in with the Cleveland Cavaliers and the reason why he left for Miami: He has to do so much by himself.

Can the Heat get enough from Bosh and Wade in Game 7 to advance to the NBA Finals for the third consecutive season?

Based on the first six games of the series, the answer is no, and it falls on James to provide another transcendent performance.

James has played in three Game 7s - 2006 and 2008 with Cleveland and 2012 with Miami - and he is 1-2. But he has been phenomenal, averaging 34.3 points and 8.3 rebounds. James said he does not have to do it all despite contrary evidence.

"I believe in my teammates," James said.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra put it on himself to find more opportunities for Bosh and Wade. Wade says that James can't do it by himself.

"We have to help each other out in the locker room and not leave it up to an individual to self will it," Wade said. "We'll see how we respond as a team."

The Heat have been in precarious situations before. In the first season of the Big Three, 2010-11, adversity got the best of the team, from an underwhelming start to a troubling finish.

But they put those lessons to use last season. They embraced the adversity, and in his peculiar way, Spoelstra convinced his players to thrive in uncomfortable situations.

The Heat were down 2-1 to the Pacers in the 2011-12 conference semifinals and 3-2 to the Boston Celtics in the conference finals.

"It's not promised," James said. "We should all cherish this moment."

While past experiences help, how much bearing they have on Monday's outcome remains unknown.

"The experience gives you an ability to compartmentalize and focus on the task," Spoelstra said. "When you first play in a competitive series like this, it's human condition to get caught up in all the other factors, the story lines, the what-ifs, the things you can't control, officiating, whatever it may be. We've been through enough battles now that we can focus on the game and what we need to do."

SLOWING MIAMI DOWN: Pacers solved Heat's offense

But how did it get to this point? How did the 49-win Pacers force a seventh game against the 66-win Heat, the defending champions?

Simply, the Pacers' size presents an unfavorable matchup for the Heat. Indiana is one of the few teams in the league that refuses to match up with Miami's smaller lineup. When Miami's Shane Battier is in the game, most opponents go with a smaller power forward, too.

Not the Pacers. Because their defense is so strong, Battier is left with a tough defensive assignment on West.

Indiana's Frank Vogel may not be as high profile as Spoelstra, but with his eye for detail and strategy gleaned from years as an advanced scout, charting every play of more than 100 games a season, he's found a way to slow Miami.

"Because they have had to match up with West and (center Roy) Hibbert, Miami has been taken out of their offensive rhythm," Kerr said.

The Heat are more accustomed to the postseason pressure than Indiana, which has played well but fair from perfect, especially in its guard play on the road.

"We're going to have to play our best basketball to get a win down there in Game 7," Vogel said.

The Pacers have already won a game in Miami and now have to steal another. But neither team has won two consecutive games in a series full of spectacular individual and team performances and an captivating coaching duel between Spoelstra and Vogel.

Not only do the Pacers need to win two in a row, but they also need to do it on the road in Game 7 against a team which has not lost two consecutive games since January. It has also been eight years since a road team won a Game 7 in the conference finals.

Indiana is not short on confidence and has played that way most of the season. Vogel exhibited it when he refused to back down from his decision to leave Hibbert on the bench at the end of Miami's Game 1 overtime victory.

Earlier in the series after a Pacers loss, the Pacers coach called Miami "one of the best teams this league has ever seen."